After many attempts at writing stories, I have found that I am not capable of writing as a pantser. Though the words flow through me once I get started, I need a solid plot to get me through to the end; otherwise I’ll write and rewrite and never finish anything. But how do you discover the plot?

With my stories, I discover it through writing, I have a vague idea (or a solid one) and then I put characters in that world. Everything is very hazy at first, I cannot picture the scenery or much of anything, only character action which I suppose is the definition of plot? As I write, things become clearer and I can start from the beginning and try again, the story builds upon itself after every attempt. But as I do this, the amount I write becomes longer and longer the closer I get to a finished story while not seeing the end of it because you cannot be sure it won’t take a sudden turn along the way. Because of this, I have become fearful of even starting because I know that most will not end up in the final product. I was hoping plot would fix this, that I didn’t have to make so many changes if the plot was solid from the beginning, but even the plot changes as I discover things along the way.

Perhaps I just choose stories with too vague of an idea or maybe I jump into the story too early, hoping it will make sense in the end… I’m just very confused and can’t seem to learn what I need to do to finish something. Perhaps I just need to stop trying to write novels on vague ideas…